


six feet under the stars (there's room for two)

by adverbialstarlight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Dates, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Past Character Death, Pining, Post-Canon, Rating is for swearing, but what else is new tbh, ok technically start of a first date but my wrist cant handle more writing, sorry I mean Allura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:44:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adverbialstarlight/pseuds/adverbialstarlight
Summary: It's been three years since the war ended. Keith's feelings for Lance have not changed, so he takes a chance and asks Lance on a date. Surprisingly, Lance says yes.





	six feet under the stars (there's room for two)

**Author's Note:**

> this was based off of a gorgeous [piece of art](https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx-KuJA2Gq/) my friend [Sunday](https://www.instagram.com/sunnylolli/) made!! she's a lovely amazingly talented human so you should go support her art!! my wrists hate me after writing this but it was totally worth it. anyway enjoy!!
> 
> unedited/betaed also its 2am and i'm tired, please excuse any mistakes. title from [Six Feet Under the Stars by All Time Low](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1TQmNhcvd8) because it's one of my favorite atl songs.

It had been a terrible idea, though what else was new? Keith was not known for his bright and brilliant planning skills. Nor was he known for resisting his impulse to follow these not-so-great plans— his time as the black paladin had shown as much.

So when he decided one day that he wanted to ask out Lance, Keith should have known it would come spilling out of him eventually— eventually meaning within the next ten minutes.

When the war first ended, Keith made a resolution to try to get over his feelings for Lance. With Lance mourning Allura and the turbulence that would come to readjusting to life on Earth— and the fact that Keith’s feelings were almost entirely unrequited— there was no other option.

Unfortunately, spending the next three years visiting Lance at the farm at least once a month did nothing to help this. If anything, their growing closeness only served to make Keith fall deeper in love with Lance.

Perhaps that’s why Keith seemed to think Lance looked completely stunning, even as he shoveled horse shit.

They were on stable duty at the moment, meaning that Keith was replacing the bedding and Lance was sweeping out the old straw and manure. It was midafternoon and they’d been working for a while, but somehow Lance didn’t even look tired. He was grinning as he cracked horse puns to Keith, who was having a difficult time not staring. The sweat on his forehead made his hair curl and his sleeves were rolled up to show off his muscular forearms. He looked downright ethereal.

Keith averted his eyes when Lance glanced up at him with a curious look. He looked ready to say something about it, but then Keith asked quickly, “Why does your family even have horses anyway? Don’t you mostly grow produce?”

“And juniberries,” Lance said, nodding.

“Right, and juniberries,” Keith echoed. He glanced towards the east field, an endless wave of pink.

“Usually farms like this don’t have animals on it, but we’re a small exception,” Lance said, snorting. “And the reason why? My sister liked ponies when she was little.”

Keith looked back at Lance, eyebrows raised. “Seriously?” he asked. Being at the farm and the Garrison so often, Keith and Veronica were pretty well acquainted by now, and she did not seem like the type who had a pony phase.

“Weird, right?” Lance grinned, as if reading Keith’s mind. His eyes crinkled as he said it, and Keith looked away. “But my parents kinda liked them so horses just stuck around. Just one or two, but that’s all it takes.”

“Huh.”

They turned back to their respective work. It only took a few minutes before Lance spoke up again. “Hey Keith.”

Keith glanced up. Lance was leaning against his rake, smirk playful. He had a feeling he knew what was coming but still said, “What?”

“Why’d the horse cross the road?” Lance asked. Not waiting for a reply he continued, “Because somebody on the other side shouted _hay_.” He dissolved into giggles at Keith’s deadpan expression.

“I do not understand your humor at _all_ ,” Keith told him.

“Good thing you don’t have to, ‘cause I like you anyway even with your overgrown mullet,” Lance said, flashing Keith a smile.

Keith felt his face turn red, chest seizing and stomach twisting in giddy knots. His brain must’ve stopped working at that moment too, because before he could realize what he was doing, he said, “Go out with me. Like, on a date at a fancy restaurant or something.” The words tumbled out quickly, and Keith slapped a hand over his mouth and his eyes widened.

What the fuck had he just done?

“Not that you have to or anything, I totally get if you don’t. Fuck, I shouldn’t have asked that I mean, with Allura and the farm and my Blade missions and the fact that you’re probably not even into me—"

He cut off when two tanned hands rested ontop of his own and looked up at Lance in surprise. At some point he’d come to stand toe-to-toe with Keith, and he was _smiling_ , shy but bright, like Keith had just told him the best thing in the goddamn world.

“Keith,” Lance said, moving his fingers to interlace with Keith’s own. “Yes. A thousand times yes. I’d love to go out with you.” His voice sounded breathless as he said it, fingers shaking slightly, but there was nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

Keith was silent for a moment. “Oh,” he finally said. “Great, cool. Does tomorrow night work? I think your mom said she was gonna make spaghetti tonight and I don’t want to take spaghetti night away from you.”

Lance’s grin widened and he squeezed Keith’s hands. “So considerate,” he commented playfully. “That sounds great though, I look forward to it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Keith said.

There was a pause, then Lance said, “I feel like this might be a good time to tell you I _really_ like you Keith. I think I might even love you. These past few years have been… kind of hard, but you’ve always been there and I can’t thank you enough for that. And— even with Allura, even though I loved her and you went away, I never stopped loving you. I thought I might’ve, especially after her— after her death, but after you’ve stuck by my side for three years despite not needing to, I think I’ve only grown to love you more.” He finished and looked down at the ground, as if afraid of how Keith was going to reply.

Keith’s face hurt from the smile he gave Lance in return. He felt like his chest was about to explode it was so light. Lance’s words echoed in Keith’s ears, and he stared. “I never thought I’d get a chance with you,” he whispered. “I never thought you’d want me, didn’t think you’d ever look at me like that. I feel like I can barely remember a time where I wasn’t in love with you. I love you so much it almost terrifies me. Honestly, I didn’t think that I’d ever tell you, but I’m kind of glad I did.”

They stood there for another few minutes, staring at each other in disbelief and wonder, not letting go of each other’s hands. The moment was broken though when Sylvio came stomping into the stable, Nadia only a few paces behind him.

“Auntie Veronica says to tell you two that it’s lunch and if you don’t come within the next five minutes she’ll— woah,” Sylvio started, stopping in his tracks when he saw Keith and Lance.

Nadia poked her head around the corner, curiosity piqued at her brother’s reaction. Her eyes flickered between Lance and Keith then to their hands. “Does this mean he’s your boyfriend now or should we keep pretending Keith just likes dropping by so he can deep clean the horse stalls while you two moon over each other?” she asked Lance.

“Nadia!” Lance exclaimed, letting go of Keith’s hands to cover his face. “Thirteen year olds have no filter, I swear to god.”

Keith felt immensely awkward but couldn’t help but laugh fondly as Lance sunk to the floor. “No,” he replied for Lance. “Not yet, anyway. We’re going on a date tomorrow though.”

Lance’s niece and nephew traded mischievous grins. “Wait til papa hears,” Sylvio said to his sister. “I’m gonna get to have the extra piece of garlic bread at dinner because I helped him win the bet with Auntie Rachel.”

Nadia shot him a look. “Not if I tell him first!” she exclaimed, then turned on her heels.

“Wh— no fair, Nadia!” Sylvio called, running after his sister and over the hill towards the house.

Lance chuckled and watched them for a moment before turning back to Keith. “They’re crazy if they think my brother will give them his garlic bread,” he said. “But anyway, dinner, huh? You have anywhere in mind?”

Keith thought for a moment. This area was too small for anywhere to be special enough to take Lance. But he was sure that one call to Hunk would help him find the perfect place tonight. Instead of telling Lance he had no idea though, Keith shrugged, taking the rake from him and leaning it against the stable wall. “It’s a surprise. Now c’mon, I don’t know what Veronica said she’d do if we were late, but I don’t really want to find out.”

* * *

 Shockingly enough, when Keith and Lance caught up with Sylvio and Nadia and went inside, none of Lance’s siblings were outside waiting to harass them like Sylvio implied that at least Rachel and Marco would. Keith’s best guess was that they were waiting for everyone to be around to drop the bomb on all the McClains at once.

He and Lance took their usual chairs next to each other at the dinner table, helping themselves to piling spaghetti and sauce onto their plates once Nadia and Sylvio got theirs. As the rest of the family made their way to the table, Lance swiped a piece of garlic bread from Keith’s plate.

Keith swatted him, though his scowl held no heat. “Get your own goddamn bread, Lance.”

“You don’t even like this brand of garlic bread. You just dip the crust in your sauce and leave the rest on your plate so this is hardly a loss,” Lance rebutted easily, ripping apart the bread. He tossed the crust at Keith and shoved the soft piece into his mouth, grinning. “See, a win-win.”

Keith reached over and closed Lance’s mouth, rolling his eyes, but took the crust. “Still doesn’t mean you had to take _my_ piece of bread,” he said. “And you’re bordering on eating as disgustingly as the twelve year old boy, I think there’s a bit of a problem here.”

“Hey!” Lance and Sylvio exclaimed simultaneously.

Nadia smirked at her brother. Keith only shrugged at the betrayed look he got from Lance, unremorseful.

“I can’t remember why I’m actually letting you take me on a date tomorrow,” Lance huffed.

“Probably because you said yes. Also, because I’m pretty sure you told me you liked me earlier,” Keith said, lips twitching into a smile at Lance’s pout.

Nadia and Sylvio paused in their silent conversation of crude gestures and contorted facial expressions to stare at Keith and Lance. “And so it begins,” Nadia stage whispered to her brother.

Lance opened his mouth to say something, but then Louis, Veronica, Rachel, and their mother walked over. Veronica clasped a firm hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Good job, little bro. Did you two actually get your shit together long enough to secure a date this time? You’ve been chickening out of it for what, three months now?”

“Language,” their mother said pointedly, glancing at Sylvio and Nadia.

“Please,” Lance said, waving off her concern, “they go to public school, it isn’t anything they haven’t heard before. That being said, Sylvio, Nadia, cover your ears real quick.” He paused and turned to look at Veronica, lightly pushing away her hand. “Fuck off, Ronnie.”

Keith watched in bemusement. Rachel sat down on his other side as Lance and Veronica continued to bicker, turning to fix Keith with a quizzical look. “Did he ask you out? Or did you ask him out? This is a very crucial detail.”

Louis sat in the seat next to her, to the other side of Nadia. “Hey, Keith. Please say it was you.”

Rachel rolled her eyes at her brother. “No, no. Lance isn’t that much of a coward. He asked _you_ out. Right?”

They looked at Keith expectantly, and he tried to hold back a laugh. It seemed Lance’s siblings were just as fond as small bets as Pidge, Hunk, and Allura had been. “Yeah, it was me, he said.”

“Yes!”

“ _Ugh_.”

Rachel dug a small candy bar out of her purse and tossed it into Louis’ waiting hands. He grinned at Keith. “Thanks man, you just won me a Snickers bar.”

Keith shrugged. “So you guys are cool with this? Me and Lance maybe being a thing?” he asked reluctantly.

From the other side of the table, Lance’s mom scoffed. “Please, it’s more than past time, and I think we all had a feeling this would happen eventually. He’s been talking about you since the start of the Garrison, you know.”

“Mama!” Lance looked mortified but Keith reached out and took his shoulder, smiling fondly.

“Oh man, look at them. Not even the first official date yet and they’re completely whipped,” Veronica stage whispered across the table to Rachel.

“They grow up so fast,” Rachel agreed, wiping away an imaginary tear.

Lance frowned at both of them. “And suddenly, I don’t have sisters anymore,” he said to Keith.

The rest of lunch went fairly smoothly, siblings bickered and occasionally flicked paper at each other, but Lance’s mother always clamped down before things got too out of hand. Even as Keith engaged in conversation occasionally, his mind was elsewhere, thinking and planning for his and Lance’s date.

He knew Lance would probably be alright with anything, even if that was sitting in the Wendy’s parking lot eating Groupon discounted burgers, but Keith wanted it to be special. There wasn’t too much time left, but he’d think of something. This date would be one that Lance would remember.

* * *

 

The restaurant Hunk ended up recommending was one close by to the Garrison. It was on the fancier side and a popular place among traveling aliens so reservations were difficult to get, but Hunk managed to snag them one. Keith made a mental note to give him his thanks later.

Veronica insisted Keith and Lance meet at the restaurant instead of one picking the other up after they’d argued over it for a little while, and so Keith hopped onto his hoverbike, wearing a borrowed suit coat from Shiro and the red dress shirt he usually saved for paladin events.

The ride was short, but enough to calm his nerves a bit before he parked and walked up to the restaurant. It was fancier than Keith expected, with the sign in elegant golden script and a valet parking area. There was a mix of humans and aliens alike inside, dining and waiting tables and cooking in the kitchen that the delivery window peeked in on.

“Hello, sir, table for one?” the host asked.

Keith shook his head. “No, I’m here on a reservation for two.” He scanned the room and saw a head of familiar head of brown hair at a table near the center and smiled a bit, nodding towards him. “There he is, thank you though.”

“Of course, enjoy your meal, sir,” the host said, nodding as Keith walked by.

Keith thanked him and made his way through the tables, pausing by the wall to study Lance for. He was leaned back in his chair, sipping on a flute of what looked to be champagne. His blue dress shirt and brushed back hair was the most formal Keith had seen him in a long time. It was different but Keith didn’t mind too much. It didn’t matter whether Lance was in tattered jeans or a fancy suit, he always looked stunning in Keith’s eyes.

Lance turned around then and their gazes met. Keith wanted to look away, having been caught staring, but he couldn’t move. He was frozen in place, unable to believe that, yeah, this was really happening. After so many years of dreaming and wishing and pushing away his wanting, after an entire goddamn war and what felt like another lifetime, they were here, in this beautiful restaurant and on a date.

“Hi,” he managed, a smile pulling at his lips as he drew closer. His stomach flipped when Lance grinned back, and he gave a small wave.

“Hey,” Lance said. “You wanna sit? I think they give complimentary champagne here.”

“Sorry if you’ve been here for a while, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” Keith said, sitting in the other chair.

Lance shook his head. “Nope, I just got here.”

Keith nodded again. “That’s good. Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for asking,” Lance replied, beaming.

“Yeah, I’m glad I did.”

He could sense it was a new beginning, the opening of an old door that had been sealed shut before now. Before Keith had taken a chance and went for it. Perhaps his ideas weren't  _always_ the worst.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i know i said like 7 months ago i was never going back to official post canon ~~bc it sucks but we all knew that~~ but sunday made this gorgeous art and i couldn't help myself. go check out [sunday's art](https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx-KuJA2Gq/)!! really sorry none of this makes sense i think my new meds are making my brain do weird shit but i hope you liked this little fic, if you want to leave a comment/kudos, you'll 200% make me cry.
> 
> catch me on [twitter and ](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns)[tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)


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